Full Release - IRmep

ought hom~ illegally over three decadeS..
..... Franklin was vulnerable.. He had a record
01'security breaches for taking documents
~o.me. Lacking substantial assets and with
a.wife afflicted with crippling rheumatoid
arthritis, Franklin did not hire a lawyer; in..
stead: heagreed to cooperate with theFBI.
Authorities enlisted Franklin in a sting~ In
July 2004, he attempted to arrange meetings
with Rosen and Weissman, armed with
the kind ofinformation'that clearly would
be ofinterest to Israel. At one point, he re..
quested an urgent meeting with Weissman,
telling him lives were in danger. When the
two met, Franklin, who was wired, warned
him that Iran had discovered the presence
ofIsraeli agents in northern Iraq: The in-.
formation was highly classified "agency
stuff," and Weissman could get in trouble
for having it, Franklin told him.
Weissman in turn told that to Rosen,
and-the two contacted Naor Gilon, a po",
Utical officer at the Israeli Embassy. Rosen
and Weissman aJso called Glenn Kessler at
the Post to report an increased threat to
US soldiers in Iraq from Iranian-backed
militias.
Franklin also helped thee FBI witb a
counterintelligence probe ofChalabi,
who has denied divulging any US secrets.
Among those hecalled was Francis Brooke,
a Chalabi aide in Washington. Accord-.
ing to Brooke, franklin also called active
members ofthe Iraqi National Congress,
Chalabi's political party..
"He. was asking questions about Ahmad
Chalabi and my dealings with Iranian of-.
fidals,"· Brooke says. Herecalls that Frank~
lin said, "There's a lot ofstuffgoing on.
: You should tell me the straight story. I'm
:1 in contact with journalists, and I could
Ii spin it for yo~."
~ Says Brooke.: "I thought he was offhis
rocker."
The Chalabi probe foundered, but tbe
AIPAC investigation gained momentum.
The calls to Naor Gilon and Kessler pro:­
vided what prosecutors considered new
evidence that Rosen and Weissman had
violated a section ofthe 1917 Espionage
Act, barring the possession and transferof
"national-defense information" by anyone
not authorized to have it.. .
. .
Three....ve~ks after their meeting with Weiss...
. man a~ the Sun Spot Cafe, FBI agents
knocked on Rosen'$door in Silver Spring
shordy before 8 AM. They told Rosen they
knew Franklin had provided classified in-.
fonnation to an Israeli official. What would
•Rosen say, they asked him, ifthe Israeli of...
. ficial told Franklin thatthe information had
already been supplied to him by Rosen? Ac..
cording to the agents' report, "Rosen said
he had done nothingwrong."
~gents confronted Weissman out...
side~ome in Bethes~a. They played
him a recording ofthe July conversation
between Weissman and Franklin. "Look,"
Weissman told them, "Iwas told by people
at the office nor to talk to you~"
Tha~ afternoon, the FBI searched
Rosen's office atAlPAC headquarters, this
time presenting" a search warrant.. CNN
cameras filmed the agents entering the
building. Apparendy tipped offbefore the
raid, CBS called AlPAC with questions.
Initially, AIPAC circled the wagons
around its two officials, defending them
in public statements, assigning them legal
counsel, and paying the legal fees. Rosen
and Weissman both received bonuses at
the end of2004.. But the investigation
continued. Although AIPAC was assured.
in December that it was not a target, four
senior AIPAC staffers were called to testifY
before a federal grand jury in Nexandria.
According to defense documents, in
February 2005, US attorney Paul Mc-­
Nulty--who later became deputy attorney
general-metwith AlPAC's executive di-.
Weissman and Rosen
were fired. AIPAC also
halted payment Of
their legal fees.
rectorand AIPAC lawyers and urged them
to cooperate. AIPAC,'s counsel called law-.
yers for Rosen and Weissman the next day"
·telling them that McNulty "would lik~ to
end itwith minimal damage toAI-PAC. He
is fighting with the FBI to limit the investi-.
gation to Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman
and to avoid expanding it." Prosecutors
disclosed to AIPAC lawyers someevidence
they had obtained under a secre~ warrant.
Rosen and Weissman were fired. AIPAC
also halted payment; oftheir legal fees. At:
the time, the Justice Department viewed
an organization's payment oflegal feeS for
employees u~der investigation as a sign of
a lack ofcooperation with the probe. An
AIPAC spokesman" Patrick Dorton, de-.
nied thattheorganization had acted under
government pressure:. "~y suggestion
thatAlPAC acted at the government's be~
hest is completely false. Our decisions on
dismissal and legal fees w~re made inde·.
pendendy, b;lSed on the facts and ourcom~
mitment to doing the right thing in a very
difficult siwation." .
One source dose to AlPAC noted that
Weissman and Rosen had refused to waive
their rights to sue the organization. Re-.
cendy, Dorton repeated a statement he had.
made atdie time ofthe indicnnent: "Rosen
and Weissman were disinissed .beca~ they
engaged in conduct that was not partof
their jobs and ~use tJtis conduct did no~
comport~hestandards that AIPAC ex-·
peets and ~es ofits employees."
Franklin" despite helping with the sting,
was indicted along with the two AIPAC
lobbyists. He pleaded guilty to two con··
spiracy counts in October 2005 and drew
a 12"year prison sentence. Judge Ellis held
J;he sentence in abeyance until the AlPAC
case is over. Theattorney Franklin acquired
late in the probe, Plato Cacheris, expects
his client to be called as a witness. He
hopes, as a result off'ranklin's cooperation
\vith the prosecution, that his sentence will
be reduced to a "minimal" t~rm.
The FBI's investigation didn't end with
the conspiracy'indictments ofRosen and
Weissman in August 2005, a year after
Weissman gotthatinitiaJ phonecall in Bos...
ton.o. One reason maf have been a gap ~n
the government's case. The two men were
charged with oral receipt and transmission
ofnational-defense information. There is
no evidence that classified documents ever
exchanged hands.
The next year, the FBI and one ofthe
prosecutors approached the family ofthe
late muckraking columnist Jack AO.derson"
seeking access to his ar~hive. Anderson's
son Kevin told a congressional panel that
he was told they "wanted access to Dad's
documents to 'see ifeither Rosen's or
Weissman's fingerprints ~ere on any gov'!­
ernment documents•." Anderson's widow
initially consented to the request, but the
family coUectively decided to refuse.
When the trial gets under way, parts of
it will be closed to the public. Judge BI·.
lis has allowed the introduction ofsome
classified evidence that only the jurors will
see or hear in fitU. He also has allowed the
defense to probe potential jurors for indio,
cations ofanti-Jewish bias..
AIPAGhas regained its place as one of
Washington's premier lobbying groups
and is building a newheadquarters. Within
the last few months, AIPAC agreed to pay
Rosen's and Weissman's legal fees, which
have climbed into the millions ofdollars.
No explanation was given, although the
decision came after Ellis ruled tha~ any
government pressure on AIPAC was "in",
appropriate and fraught. with the risk of I
constitutional harm.."
Franklin, Rosen, and Weissman have
all failed to find permanent employment
while the case is pending. Franklin works
atodd jobs, his lawyersays. Rosen received
financial help from friends and has done
part-time consulting. Weissman spends a
good deal oftime with his children-his
•daughter is studyingArabic at·college; one
son is a high-school senior, and another is
in middle school-walking his two golden
retrievers and pondering bookprojects, including
one on rock ,n, roU.
lVl
JANUARY 20081WASHINGTONIAN 1167
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